(FF142) in which I urged Bears to reclaim their right to support Scotland.
It is fair to say, the Grandmaster wasn't inundated with fan mail in support
of my view. For many True Blues, the gulf between the SFA, the Scotland
set-up and the Gers is unbridgeable and, while I don't agree, it is an
understandable line. But I wonder if the stayaways would be quite so
dogmatic if they'd joined me at the Scotland v Germany Euro 2004 qualifier.
Sure, just a few days later the Faroes were within two minutes of matching
Scotland's achievement of holding the Germans to a draw but, not since the
3-1 victory over Spain on the way to Italia 90, can I remember the Hampden
atmosphere being so good, with the crowd supporting the entire team instead
of playing favourites. It really was like the good old days, the Hampden
Roar DOES exist, and the players responded, matching their highly-rated
opponents in every area of the field and certainly deserving the 1-1 draw.
For me, it all started with the national anthems. Don't get me wrong, I'm
no fan of Flower Of Scotland. All that Edward's army/think again/nation
again stuff does nothing for me, especially when the crowd is out of time
and out of tune with the band, almost as if they are singing a different
number entirely. But Caledon's three- tenorsish rousing rendition of the
song boomed out from the tannoy, the crowd joined in and it really worked,
so much so that they stuck on an extra chorus or three. And I was also very
impressed by the singers' orange/tangerine kilts, although I spent the next
few days expecting some sort of outcry. Is the NI peace process still
intact?
If truth be told, I went along to Hampden expecting to see a spirited
performance from the team - well, after getting gubbed by Austria and making
New Zealand's all whites look as awesome as their all blacks, there was
plenty of room for improvement! But I also banked on the Germans taking
everything Scotland could throw at them, then putting our team to sleep with
a couple of killer breakaways, so when Bobic scored after 23 minutes,
although disappointed, I was hardly likely to slit my wrists.
But the crowd stuck behind the team, the players kept at it, and I got the
impression the Germans were quite happy to hold on to what they had. Big
mistake. There were signs they would be found out long before a wee bit of
Made In Wolverhampton quick thinking between Colin Cameron and Kenny Miller
delivered the equaliser. Not for the first time this season, I was
impressed by Miller and Big Eck could do worse than check out how long he
has to run on his Wolves contract.
Germany did try to step up a gear in the later stages and had a few chances
but it would have been a great injustice if they'd got the winner. There
wasn't a failure in the Scotland team (Big Dropsy even made a couple of good
saves, knocking two long range efforts round the post - although I'm sure
Andy Goram would have held both!) and I will certainly be back to support
them again. Mind you, having raised their game against Germany, it wouldn't
surprise me if the same Scotland team was to blow it by flopping when the
Faroes and Lithuania come to Hampden next season.
Which would, of course, be infuriating because Scotland are very well placed
to make it to the play-offs. The significant results in the group have been
Scotland's earlier home and away victories over Iceland. Assuming they will
get nothing in Dortmund in September, sitting on 8 points, Scotland can
still finish with 14 by beating the Faroes and Lithuania, while Iceland
(currently with 9) would have to win one of their two games with Germany to
get the play-off spot.
With a fully fit Baz, Mo Ross and Thommo figuring in the Freckled One's
starting eleven more often, and Neil McCann showing signs of returning to
form, there could be a sizeable Rangers presence in Berti Vogts squads. Who
knows? If we can save up enough Embassy coupons, we might even sign a
Scotland player or two.
So I'm sticking to my guns. I know all about the risks of players getting
injured but I want to see as many Rangers players as possible strutting
their stuff in Portugal for Euro 2004, if they are in Scotland colours then
so much the better, and we should be there to support them. With a bit of
luck, the team will be based in Oporto so we can say our personal thanks to
all our friends in that neck of the woods.
LITTLE BOY BLUE